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Analysis

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Benton provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Subscribe today and receive your first digest in the morning.

As CBS and Viacom dance around each other like teenagers at a ball, the US implications of a merger have been widely covered. However, as the two consider rebuilding the House of Sumner over the next couple of months, one of the most interesting aspects is the growing power of their international business.

If YouTube was looking for a little love from British lawmakers for its new initiative to label videos from news outlets that receive state funds, the company was in for a surprise. The lawmakers, who came to Washington this week to hold a hearing into fake news, were even more scathing than U.S. critics of YouTube’s idea for helping audiences understand where their news comes from.

On our individual phone bills a line item is typically included for 9-1-1 service. It’s a relatively small fee that states and localities charge to support emergency calling services. But too many states are stealing these funds and using them for other purposes, like filling budget gaps, purchasing vehicles, or worse.

State governments are becoming pivotal players in the battle over net neutrality. Gov Phil Murphy (D-NJ) this week became one of the latest to adopta new strategy, signing an executive order that effectively forces Internet service providers (ISPs) that do business with the state to abide by strong net neutrality rules.

Apparently, the repeal of consumer protections in December 2017 – a repeal that officially has not been implemented as of this writing – has restored the progress of U.S. broadband deployment. Or, at least, that’s what the FCC is asking us to believe.

NRECA send letters to both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees asking for a portion of the $10 billion for infrastructure in the just announced budget agreement, for the FY18 Omnibus bill and FY19 spending bill still being developed, to be designated for rural broadband.

There are different ways — as different as black and white — in seeing the world depending on whether you get your political news and analysis from Fox News and Breitbart News or CNN and The New York Times.